Smolder (15 page)

“Love
you more, hubby,” I said right before the door to our limo opened. We
reluctantly released our grip on each other and entered the party side by side,
just like we were supposed to.

As
soon as we walked in, my eyes landed on Jagger sitting at the bar, nursing a
beer and chatting up some brunette, and I groaned. I knew he’d be here tonight
and even though he’d backed off of me like he promised and hadn’t bothered me
in a while I was still a bit apprehensive. If he was already drinking that
meant he’d be very handsy and would probably try to grope me at some point in
the evening. I was going to have to do my best to keep close to Jude without
seeming too obvious.

“Sadie!”
I heard someone calling me. I turned to see who was saying my name and found
Danni, Everleigh, and Jessie walking toward me, looking absolutely gorgeous in
their dresses.

Jessie
was wearing a beautiful emerald green dress that made her blue eyes pop and had
her long, chestnut brown hair down around her shoulders in soft curls. Danni
looked amazing in a strapless royal purple gown that flowed around her and had
her honey blonde hair half up with a few curls around her shoulders. Everleigh
was looking smoking hot in a body-hugging red gown and her raven-colored hair
was pulled up and accentuated her graceful neck.

“Good
God, look at you!” I exclaimed, hugging each of them. “How the hell did you all
make it out of your houses without your husbands tearing those dresses to
shreds with their teeth? You look so hot!”

“Us?”
Everleigh said. “Girl, you look absolutely beautiful!”

“Thanks,
ladies. Is Shona here tonight? I wanted to say hi,” I said, scanning the crowd
for the beautiful red head.

“She’s
here, but she’s running around helping make this evening go as smoothly as she
can. I need to remind her to try and have a bit of fun tonight on top of
working,” Jessie said, smiling. “I got lucky when I hired that girl.”

“Definitely,”
I agreed.

“So,
I bet Jude started drooling when he saw you in this dress,” Danni answered.

I
smiled at her and replied, “Yeah, he liked it, trust me. He told me before we
came in that it might not make it home in one piece.”

“Meow,”
Everleigh said, laughing. “So, I take it things are going good with you two?”

I
nodded and smiled dreamily. “They are more than good. They’re perfect,
actually.” I looked at the three of them, smiling and gushing with me over
Jude, and I felt a pang of guilt over lying to my best friends. For all they
knew, Jude and I were still only sleeping together. I hope they could forgive
me when they find out that we’d been married since the night of Harlowe’s
birthday party.

“That’s
awesome, Sadie. I’m so happy for the two of you,” Danni replied. “So, when do
you think you’re going to let Beau and the guys in on your happiness?”

“It’s
funny you should ask that. Jude and I are actually planning on getting everyone
together tomorrow and doing it then.”

Everleigh
gasped and Danni asked, “Really? You’re sure you’re ready?”

I
laughed and answered, “Um, I think it’s about time, don’t you?”

“Definitely,”
Everleigh said.

“Well
I can’t wait until this is finally out in the open. Beau is pretty sure you’re
seeing someone and he keeps grilling me about who it is,” Danni stated. “I’m
glad that after tonight everyone will know and I can spend the next few weeks
making him forget he’s mad at me for keeping this from him by having lots and
lots of makeup sex with him.”

“I
know, he was asking me about it at Harlowe’s party. Being sober has made him
annoyingly aware of everything,” I said, smiling at Danni. “Why did you have to
be worth quitting drinking for?”

Danni
laughed and linked her arm through mine. “It’s going to be okay, Sadie. Let’s
just have a good time tonight and celebrate the fact that my parents are taking
care of Max, Harlowe, and Kallum and we can have a good time with our
husbands.”

“I
hear that. I love my son with all my heart, but Ryder and I have needed a night
to ourselves for a while. I’m pretty sure a trip to the bathroom will be in my
near future,” Everleigh stated as she looked across the room at Ryder, who was
standing with Jude, Kris, and Beau by the bar. I smiled as I saw the two of
them looking at each other and felt excited for the fact that tomorrow the
secrets would all be over and Jude and I would be able to look at each other
like that and not have to hide it.

A
few hours later, the party was in full swing and I was having a great time
despite the fact that I had to be friendly with my husband.
It’s just until
morning,
I kept telling myself. I’d been trying to keep from looking at him
all night because I knew I’d either start drooling or end up blowing the whole
thing. I had also been dodging Jagger all night and I was feeling pretty
confident that I’d not have to deal with him when I saw a red head draped
around him and hanging on his every word.

Jude
was having a drink at the bar and had just taken a sip of his beer when he
looked up and caught my stare. He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the
corners and mouthed, “Hi princess.”

I
grinned back and jerked my head toward the kitchen, silently asking him to meet
me there away from prying eyes. He took my hint and nodded and I turned to move
through the crowded dance floor to sneak in a private moment with my husband. I
quickly ducked into the kitchen and moved past all of the workers to wait for
him.

While
I was waiting for Jude I saw a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and
decided to snag a few. As I picked one up and took a bite, I felt an arm snake
around my waist and lips brush across my neck. Alarm bells instantly started
ringing in my head because I knew my husband’s touch better than anything in
the world…whoever had grabbed me wasn’t Jude.

I
flinched and turned around to find Jagger leaning against me and if I’d have
lit a match the alcohol fumes on his breath would’ve caught fire. I groaned and
side stepped him.

“Hi
Jagger,” I said as casually as I could.

“Hey
Sadie,” he slurred, “there you are. I’ve been staring at you all night, you
look fucking sexy.”

“Um,
thanks,” I replied as I moved as far from him as I could.

“So,
where’s your guard dog? Wherever you’ve gone tonight Jude’s not been too far
behind.”

“If
you have noticed that then I’m sure you know he’s probably on his way,” I
answered.

Jagger
smiled at me and scoffed. “Please, that guy is probably somewhere getting off
right now. At least it looked that way when I saw some chick trying to rub up
on him when I came back here. Looked like he was tired of his dick collecting
dust,” he answered and my rage was building more and more.

It
was obvious to me that he was trying to say anything to get to me but I knew
better. I knew my husband better than he knew himself and there was no way in
hell he’d do something like that to me. Girls had been approaching him all
night and he shoved every one of them away.

I
needed to get out of the kitchen and cut Jude off before this turned ugly so I
snapped, “Whatever Jagger, get out of my way,” and I tried to move across the
kitchen. I was almost to the door but he blocked my path and backed me against
the counter, placing both hands at my sides and gripping the counter top. I was
panicked. Not only did I not want to be around Jagger while he was drunk but if
Jude walked in and saw this, there would be no way in hell to stop him from
beating Jagger within an inch of his life.

“Where
are you going? I know you want to fuck me, I can tell.”

“Look,
Jagger, I’m trying to be nice here but you really need to back off of me now
before I knee you in the fucking balls,” I spat and tried to duck under his
arms.

He
leaned close to my face and answered, “I like it when you’re feisty, that just
means this will be more fun,” he said and roughly pressed his lips to mine.

I
gasped in horror and when I did he shoved his tongue into my mouth and I almost
gagged on the taste of what must have been the strongest vodka and whiskey that
was being served. I pushed against him and was readying myself to kick, punch,
or scratch whichever part of him I could hit first but before I could he was suddenly
ripped away from me. I fell forward and caught myself on a table and when I
looked up, Jude had Jagger pressed against the wall for a second before
punching him as hard as he could in the stomach.

“Jude,
stop!” I screamed, running toward him. I tried my best to pull at his suit
jacket and pull him off Jagger but he wouldn’t budge. He was too strong.

“What
part of back the fuck off Sadie are you not getting, asshole?” Jude growled,
his booming voice echoing off the walls. Jagger shoved hard against him and was
able to punch Jude once in the mouth before he staggered backward against the
wall. Jude spit out a mouthful of blood before yelling, “I swear to God, if you
ever even think of touching her again I’ll break every bone in your body!”

Jagger
narrowed his glassy eyes and looked from Jude to me and back again. He huffed
out a cruel laugh and answered, “Oh now it all it makes sense. No wonder you’ve
been up her fucking ass since the wedding last year. I should’ve known you’d
been hitting that pussy the whole time.”

Jude
lunged at him again but I grabbed his arm before he could. “Don’t do it Jude,
he’s drunk. Let’s just get out of here,” I pleaded, tugging at his arm. “Come
on, baby, take me home.”

“Sadie,
this prick needs to know not to fuck with you anymore. How many times have you
told him to back off and he keeps coming at you?” Jude growled. “This is over!”

“I
know, it is now, I promise,” I said, still trying to lead him out the door.

Jagger
scoffed and said, “That’s right, bitch, walk away. Looks like she’s already got
you pussy whipped.”

I
looked into Jude’s eyes and they were wild and scary…they were so dark that I
couldn’t see any gray, only black. I was still holding onto his arm with all my
might but it wasn’t enough to stop him from lunging at Jagger again. Jagger
charged at him and as soon as they collided, I lost my grip on Jude and
stumbled backward. I tried to grab onto anything I could to stay upright but
before I could I felt something hard hit the back of my head and the last thing
I remembered before blacking out was seeing Jude’s panic-stricken face before I
hit the floor.

Jude

The
moment I turned and saw Sadie falling, my world sped up and slowed down all at
the same time. However, the second her head hit the steel kitchen island and
her eyes rolled back before she hit the floor, I felt like my heart had been
ripped in half.

“Sadie!”
I screamed, shoving Jagger away from me and rushing to her side. I knelt down
and immediately lifted her tiny body into my arms. I took her head into my hand
and I felt something warm and sticky. When I saw blood trickling down my hand
and dripping onto the floor, my stomach dropped. This wasn’t happening…

“Sadie?
Baby, answer me,” I begged desperately. “Wake up please!”

“Fuck,
I’m calling an ambulance,” Jagger stated, pulling out his phone and quickly
dialing for help.

“Hurry
up, asshole!” I shouted at him, still holding onto Sadie. I looked at her,
lying so limp and lifeless in my arms, and the tears started to rapidly swell
in my eyes.

As
I held onto my wife and begged her to open her eyes, I felt wracked with guilt.
This was my fault. If I’d listened to her and walked away from Jagger when she
wanted me to, we could have been on our way home to make love all night long.
Seeing how pale she already was and feeling more and more blood rolling down my
arm and onto the floor I was terrified that she might already be lost to me.

Fuck that,
I thought.
My girl’s a fucking fighter and she’s not going out this way.
She’s not leaving me behind, I won’t fucking let her.

The
kitchen door swung open and I heard Shona’s voice say, “What’s all the racket
in here? I heard shouting and…oh my God!” She screamed out and rushed to my
side. “Sadie? Jude, what the hell happened?”

I
was shaking and couldn’t respond so Jagger replied, “We were fighting and Sadie
tried to break it up and…she fell backward. It was an accident, Shona.” He
sounded like he quickly sobering up and feeling bad. Good. I hoped he was
feeling ten times worse than I was because he was the cause of all this.

“Why
the hell were you two fighting? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, someone call an
ambulance!” she yelled.

“I
already did,” Jagger answered. “They’re on the way.”

“Fine,
go get Beau and get him in here! Now!” she commanded and placed an arm on my
shoulder.

“Sadie…”
I whimpered, cradling her and patting her cheek gently. “Please wake up, baby,
please.”

Everything
else happened so fast that my head was spinning. I heard Beau shouting,
Everleigh and Danni crying, the paramedics showing up, me refusing to let them
pick her up and insisting on placing her on the stretcher. Beau was trying to
ride in the ambulance with her but Danni convinced him to let me go along since
I was the one that witnessed what happened and “could answer any questions”. It
didn’t matter if he wanted to go or not because no one was keeping me from my
wife’s side…no one.

Once
we were at the hospital, Sadie was immediately rushed into a trauma room in the
ER. I tried to go into the room with her but the nurses and doctors that were
working on her made me wait outside. As much as I wanted to throw every one of
them against a wall, I knew I had to step back and let them save her. I
reluctantly walked into the hallway and into the waiting room where I slumped
into a chair. As soon as I sat down, I dropped my head into my blood-stained
hands and started bawling like a baby.

They
had to save her…I would die without Sadie. She was my everything…my air to
breathe, my food to eat, the blood in my veins, the depth of my soul. There was
no way I’d be able to carry on in a world without her in it. I decided right
then that if she didn’t make it, the sun wouldn’t rise for me another day. I
would not live without her.

“Jude!”

I
looked up and saw a distraught Danni running toward me followed by Kris,
Jessie, Ryder, Everleigh, and an angry and distressed Beau. I also looked past
them and saw John, Cash, Zayne, Logan, and a bruised up and bloodied Jagger
following behind.

Danni
ran to me and threw her arms around me. “Jagger told us what happened. She’s
going to be okay.”

“He
told you what happened, did he?” I answered, my eyes narrowing at him as he
stood before me looking apologetic. I hope he felt bad but honestly I didn’t
give a fuck at this point. “Did he tell you the whole truth? Did he tell you
why this happened?”

“Jude,”
Danni started, but Beau interrupted her.

“Why
did
this happen, Jude?” Beau yelled and Danni let go of me. She walked
to him with her hands raised but he kept walking toward me.

“I’m
sorry man,” Jagger said, “it’s all my fault.”

“You’re
God damned right it’s his fault,” I barked at him. “I was trying to protect her
from being manhandled by that asshole.”

Beau
huffed out a bitter laugh and snapped, “I get that you were defending her, but
how did that lead to her being unconscious in a fucking hospital? She can fight
her own battles, you know!”

In
that moment, I saw nothing but red. “Are you fucking kidding me, Beau? Everyone
in the world knows that woman can fight her own battles except for you! She was
trying to fight that dick head off of her but he was too strong so I stepped up
and pulled him off her! I did what any good man would do when he saw a woman
being assaulted! I fucking did the right thing!”

“We
know you did, Jude,” Everleigh answered sternly, glaring at Beau, and Ryder
nodded his head at me.

Beau
scoffed at me. “Why is it that you are always the common factor whenever a
woman I care about is hurt? You left Danni alone to bleed on our kitchen floor
before Harlowe was born and now you let Sadie’s head get split open and she
might die from this! What the hell kind of friend are you?”

“Whoa,
Beau, hang on!” Danni screamed and shoved him so hard that he stumbled back.
“What happened to me and Harlowe was in no way Jude’s fault! I had a medical
condition that
no one
knew about until it happened and besides, I
made
him leave that night to help your sister! Don’t you
ever
blame that on
him!”

“No,
it’s okay Danni, I know all his
‘I know it’s not your fault’
shit was
just that…shit. Science and logic never entered his fucking mind. Why would it
when he had me to blame?” I growled. “You asked what kind of friend I am, but
what the hell kind of brother are you? Where were you when Jagger was fucking
with her?”

“She’d
better pull through this,” Beau growled angrily yet his voice was breaking.

“She
will,” I spat at him, “but if she doesn’t it won’t be because of me. I care
about that girl more than you will ever know.”

“Excuse
me, is there a Jude Miller here?” someone asked behind me and I spun around to
find one of the doctors that was taking care of Sadie standing before us.

“Yes,
that’s me, I’m Jude. Is Sadie okay?” I asked, my stomach in knots. Everyone
gathered behind me and I noticed the doctor looked apprehensive. “It’s okay,
they’re family.”

The
doctor nodded and extending his hand, I shook it as he said, “I’m Dr. Hastings
and I’ve been taking care of Sadie since she was brought in. She’s stable for
now but the next twenty-four hours are going to be critical. She has a pretty
big gash on her head that required stitches and she’s lost a lot of blood so
we’re going to have to start a transfusion.”

My
heart dropped and I asked, “But is she going to be okay?”

“When
Sadie fell she suffered a pretty severe blow to the back of her skull and
there’s some mild swelling on her brain. We have her in a medically induced
coma to help her get some rest and let her brain heal itself. At this point I’m
optimistic that she’ll recover but as I said, the next twenty-four hours are
very crucial and we’re going to monitor her very closely.”

I
breathed a tiny sigh of relief as Danni asked, “When can we see her?”

“Right
now we’re asking that only immediate family visit her for short periods of
time,” the doctor said.

Beau
stepped forward and stated, “That’s me. I’m Sadie’s next of kin.”

This
was it…the moment that everyone found out about me and Sadie. I knew that Beau
was her brother but there was no way he was going to go in that room and put
any stress onto her, even if she was unconscious. For all I knew she might be
able to hear us.

I
defiantly stepped forward and answered, “I’m going back first, I’m her
immediate family.”

“What
the fuck, Jude? No you aren’t,” Beau yelled. “No one is seeing my sister but
me. I’m her brother!”

I
turned to him and answered, “Yeah. But I’m her husband.”

There
was a collective gasp followed by stunned silence. Beau narrowed his eyes at me
and angrily asked, “What the hell did you just say?”

I
sighed and confessed, “I said that I’m her husband and have been since the
night of Harlowe’s birthday when we both flew to New York. Jake and Olivia
didn’t get married, we did. I love her, Beau, and we’ve been together since
this past summer. We were planning on telling you in the morning because Sadie
didn’t want drama for the party tonight but I wanted to tell you all sooner.
I’m sorry about the timing of it all and for keeping it a secret, but it was
what she wanted. I kept quiet because that’s what she asked me to do.”

Before
I could blink, Beau lunged forward and smoked me right in the jaw. “You fucking
asshole!” he yelled. “You promised me you wouldn’t touch her!”

Ryder
and Kris pulled him away from me and I rubbed my sore jaw and replied, “I
didn’t go after her, Beau. We came together on our own. No one forced this.”

“You’re
going to stay the fuck away from her,” Beau spat out.

“I’m
not going to do that. She’s my wife and I love her,” I answered defiantly.

Beau’s
eyes were wild with anger and he growled out, “Then I want you out of the
band.”

“Hey!”
Jessie shouted.

“Beau,
calm down!” Ryder snapped.

“Stop
it!” yelled Kris.

“I’m
not fucking joking. Either you stay away from Sadie or you’re out. Take your
pick,” Beau ordered.

I
looked back and forth at my family…the only one I’d ever known. I sighed and
looked up at the ceiling before I answered, “I love you guys and I’m sorry if
Sadie and I let you all down. But,” I said, jerking my head toward Sadie’s
room, “I love that girl more than anything in this world and if this is my only
choice, then I choose her. I’ll
always
choose her. Now if you’ll excuse
me, I’m going to go see my wife.”

I
quickly turned and walked toward Sadie’s room without a backward glance. I
could hear yelling and shouting as I moved away from the waiting room and
closer to her. As much as what Beau had said hurt me, nothing was hurting more
than knowing my wife was in a coma and there was nothing I could do for her but
pray for a miracle.

As
soon as I reached her room, I took a deep breath and prepared myself as best as
I could for what she might look like. Even though the doctor said that she was
going to be okay, I was still terrified to see her.

“Come
on, Jude, you got this,” I said under my breath. “Be strong for her.” I exhaled
deeply and walked into her room. When my eyes landed on her, my heart felt like
it was going to completely shatter.

Sadie
was lying on the hospital bed with a bandage around her head and her snowy
blonde hair was lying in waves around her shoulders. She looked pale and drawn
and had several tubes attached to her tiny arms. The sight of my beautiful wife
lying helpless in a hospital bed gutted me. I moved to her bedside and
collapsed into the chair next to her, taking her frail hand and sobbing
uncontrollably.

How
the hell did I let this happen? As I wept for her and prayed for her to open
her eyes, the weight of what Beau said to me really hit. He was right…this was
my fault. She begged me to walk away from Jagger and I should have. He was
drunk and looking for a fight and I knew that. I shouldn’t have let him get to
me and now because I was too angry to let it go, the woman I loved was lying in
a bed fighting for her life. After my tears started to slow down, I decided to
try and talk to her. Who knew? Maybe she would hear me, wake up, and tell me to
shut up and stop whining.

Taking
her hand, I quietly said, “Hey princess. It’s pretty quiet in here, you need to
wake up and start running that mouth of yours.” The heart monitor was beeping a
steady rhythm as she lay unmoving in her bed.

“Sadie,
I know if you were awake you’d call me a total pussy for acting this way, but
you have to open those gorgeous eyes of yours because if you don’t…” I broke
off, choking on my emotion, “I’m not going to make it. I’m a mess here, baby,
and I have no idea what to do. It’s killing me to see you like this,” I said
softly, hot tears shooting uncontrollably down my cheeks. “Come back to me.”